The National Pilot Cohort began in April of 2010 as part of a dream Cantor Rosalie Boxt had, after many conversations with Cantor Richard Cohn, Dan Nichols and others about opportunities for Cantors and Singer/Songwriters to be able to study and learn together. The original team (Josh, Debbie, Dan, Ken, Rosalie, Richard, Andy and Benjie) came together purely as curiosity – to see what might be possible.

This group (with the addition of Julie Silver, Jonathan Comisar and Craig Taubman after Debbie Friedman z”l died in January of 2011) met in retreat three times through the fall of 2011, and composed a variety of melodies in different partnerships. The focus of our work was relationship, conversation, text study and creative music and worship exploration. Some melodies are fragments, some full pieces which the composers didn’t write to share or to be used but for the exercise of studying and composing in partnership, and a few pieces have been recorded and are used in communities around North America. This group reflects on its time together as very meaningful, inspirational and that it gave them new insights which affect their own individual work in myriad ways.